Several varieties of portable fluid dispensers exist in today's marketplace, and are adapted for dispensing a wide variety of different fluids in numerous applications. For example, many such portable dispensers are fluid sprayers used to apply fluid to surfaces and objects, such as for spraying water, fertilizer, weed killer, pesticide, cleaning fluid, paint, lacquer, and any other fluid. In some cases, these portable fluid sprayers are adapted to be carried by a user from location to location as the needs of a project require. In these and other cases, portable fluid sprayers can be worn by a user, such as on a user's back in backpack form.
With reference to conventional backpack fluid sprayers for purposes of introduction only, some conventional backpack sprayers are hand pump sprayers, while other conventional sprayers are powered (such as by battery power or via a power cord to a power source). Electrical backpack sprayers typically include a tank having an internal chamber for containing fluid, a pump operable to pump fluid from the tank, a powering device (such as a battery or appropriate circuitry for a power connection) connected to the pump to power the pump, and a conduit connected to the outlet of the pump for passing fluid from the pump to a dispensing nozzle connected to an end of the conduit.
Each of these electrical backpack sprayers often include several other components, such as a support frame for engaging the ground and supporting the sprayer thereupon, metallic or plastic back frames with shoulder straps or other items for supporting the sprayer on a user's back, and many other design-specific components. Conventional electrical backpack sprayers containing some or all of these components (and/or still other components) are often heavy, thereby increasing user fatigue, and in some cases preventing some people from using the electrical backpack sprayer.
With continued reference to backpack sprayers for purposes of introduction only, some conventional backpack sprayers support the pump in an inconvenient location. More particularly, the pump outlet (to which the conduit and dispensing nozzle is connected) is often inconveniently positioned, thereby extending the tube out of the sprayer in an undesirable location. For example, some backpack sprayers have a fluid conduit extending from a front surface of the sprayer facing a wearer's back, from a bottom surface of the sprayer (which requires a frame or other structure of the sprayer to prevent damage to the fluid conduit), or from a location that requires an excessive amount of conduit in order for a user to properly orient the dispensing nozzle. Such sprayer designs can make a user uncomfortable, cause injury to the user or cause damage to the backpack sprayer.
Some conventional portable electrical sprayers use batteries as a source of power for the pump, and often require regular charging of the battery. Some of these battery powered backpack sprayers include a battery located within an internal compartment of the sprayer and connected directly to the pump with electrical connectors, and require that the battery be disconnected from the pump and removed from the sprayer in order to be charged. To access the internal compartment for this purpose, fasteners and a cover must normally be removed. This disconnection and removal of components can be a difficult and time consuming process. Components can also be misplaced or lost after disconnection and removal. In other battery powered sprayers, the battery can remain in the internal compartment, but the fasteners and cover must be removed and the battery must still be disconnected from the pump. This removal and disconnection again often proves to be a difficult and time consuming process.
In light of these and other shortcomings of conventional electrical backpack sprayers, there are increasing market demands for improved portable fluid dispensers. New portable fluid dispensers addressing one or more of such shortcomings would be a welcome addition to the art.